


The Siren: First Semester

by Burninglilly



Series: The Siren [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Original Fiction, Originally Posted on FictionPress.com
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:21:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23943841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burninglilly/pseuds/Burninglilly
Summary: It was a day like any other.I woke up, got dressed and walked out of my dorm. The only difference was that this would be the last time I’d be doing it at this school. In the blink of an eye, all my hard work had finally led me to a brand new district, and this was going to be the day I transferred to high school for my freshman year.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Series: The Siren [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726069





	1. Chapter 1

It was a day like any other.  
  
I woke up, got dressed and walked out of my dorm. The only difference was that this would be the last time I’d be doing it at this school. In the blink of an eye, all my hard work had finally led me to a brand new district, and this was going to be the day I transferred to high school for my freshman year.  
  
I looked out the window and tried to soak in the landscape, since those eight hours were going to be the only time I’d get to see it until graduation. The shaky roads rattled the chains and cuffs, which were pretty basic procedures for cargo like me. Back at my old school, everyone had a pretty nasty reputation and I was no exception. They didn’t call me Fang for nothing.  
  
I didn’t leave much behind. I had no friends, and all that time proving I could keep up with the students at my new school was both rewarding and irritating since I had plenty of kids try to fuck me up for trying to ‘say I’m too good for them’. I honestly couldn’t get out fast enough, and it pissed me off that it took an entire year to do it. I wanted out of that shitty middle school the second I stepped off the bus. I didn’t find out about transfers until my second year there. Four long ass years stuck with a bunch of morons, but it paid off! All I had to do now was endure this bus ride and that would be the end of a long journey.  
  
The bus hissed before it came to a complete halt. A man who looked about ten feet tall stood outside his school proud and eagerly waiting for me. He had broad shoulders, piercing yellow slit eyes that resembled a cat staring at the sun. Two rather large horns protruding from the sides of his head, black hair slicked back and a goatee. His slim long tail flicked behind him, a classic diamond point at the end suggested he was among the others who dictated our lives. The man standing in front of me was a proud example of what the demons in our school looked like, all of which were teachers.  
  
I don’t know why a demon got stuck teaching shitheads like me and those back at the marsh, but every now and then, a teacher says something along the lines of ‘If only I had listened to mother! I’d be running the town by now!’ So I have to assume that many failed at fame, fortune or they probably could teach at better schools, but something had to happen where they ended up at our districts instead. Then there were teachers like this man. Who wore a bright beaming smile and seemed to actually want to be there. Though he’d be my first encounter with such a teacher, or principal in his case.  
  
I took two steps off that bus before the driver, who was a ripple of fat, grease and a sunken face, shut his doors and took off faster than a bolt of lightning flying across the sky. I had to wonder why a demon ended up like him as well, but the bus drivers are hardly seen or spoken to.  
  
It was about a week before the new year started when I met the principal for the first time. He shook my hand, a bold move since he didn’t know me, but he was a large man with a thunderous voice. Men his size, stature and intimidating smile have little to fear or worry about. He handed me a blue collar that I had to wear and then I sat down. After talking to him for what felt like six hours, he let me know where I’d be staying for the first semester.  
  
He explained to me what my collar meant. I had to wear a blue collar since I was a first year. Second years wore green, third years wore red and fourth years wore purple. Every collar had a round tag on it. At the top of the tag was my name, below that was a symbol for the hall I lived in and below that was my dorm.  
  
So it went like:  
  
Fang  
  
Star Hall  
  
Room: A-53  
  
I wasn’t sure what A stood for and he said it meant I was an A honor roll student. I thought it was weird he had to specify that but whatever. 53 was my actual room number. I asked him if B meant B honor rolls? He said no, B meant something else and it went all the way to F. I asked him what the other letters stand for. He told me B was for Preps, C was for artists and D was for sociables. I asked about F. He had an uncomfortable smile and said.  
  
“F! Yes… of course you’d want to know what F stands for um… Most students just know what it means.” He laughed. “It means…. Relaxed.” He said. “Yes. That’s it, it means relaxed.” He nodded and cleared his throat before moving on.  
  
It wasn’t long before I started moving in, which was also a process. I was just kinda watching the staff move my new shit around when I noticed a few students were wandering around the school. Out of curiosity they’d come near me as if they wanted to talk, but I avoided them for as long as I could. Sometimes I’d go to my hall and they’d back off. Which I wasn’t surprised about. It was a new district, but it’s a well known fact that students don’t transfer often. For one, it’s really hard to get out. Especially if you went to a shit district like mine, but besides that once you’re in a school like this one, why would you ever want to get out? Other than this school, there was a top tier school which is next to impossible to get in. You literally need to be a genius to get into THAT school. So I guess when they saw me go into a dark hallway that only lit up one bulb per sensor, they knew I wasn't a freshman from their old middle school. Plus I had rough edges so I couldn't be from an elite school. I may be scrawny with pasty paper thin skin, but I also had some terrifying features that forced the other students to avoid me. Like my razor sharp rows of teeth. Or my slit pupils clouded with hazel eyes that seemed to look as if I were always staring off into space. The gills in my neck even? My messy blueish gray hair that covered my face? Maybe even my freakishly long crooked nose would turn you off to talking to a guy like me? But if none of that made you want to keep away from the ‘weird kid’ in school. Then the shark fin on my head usually did the trick. Once those pieces came together, they left me alone.  
  
Demon High for Animal Demons was a much nicer version of my old school. Faulty Middle School for animal demons pretty much imprisoned their students in a rundown barely functioning building. Demon High was known to provide some of the best care and activities for their students. But both were still locked down and hidden away from the world. No matter what district, we were not allowed to even peek at the outside world. Even if we could, all three districts were in the middle of nowhere. Days away from the nearest town, and hours away from the next school. We were unwanted by our parents and by society.  
  
We were all born in a Demon world, and the moment we’re born it’s almost too obvious that we were completely different. Even if we didn’t have tails, wings or obvious traits of an animal demon. If our skin wasn’t an obvious shade of at least pink, then they knew we weren’t fit to live in their elite world. I’m not sure how a normal demon lives, but I at least know just by looking at our teachers that we were completely different.  
  
A normal demon essentially reflected what the principal looked like. Of course they vary in body shape, horn styles and height, but that’s normal in any creature. Some Demons had highly decorated horns with jewels, flowers, silk and carvings on them. Though it was obvious that our teachers didn’t have access to those things, only a few took the time and money to get their horns dolled up.  
  
All three districts ran differently. I think you can guess that my old school was meant to keep all the so-called ‘trouble makers.’ They judged that based on what we are. Since I was born a shark demon, the second I stepped out of The Nursery, I went straight to Faulty Elementary. (The Nursery is basically where we all go when we’re just babies until we can go to actual school.) The other kids get into either Demon High or Advanced Thinkers by how smart they are. They test all kids (except sharks, spiders, snakes, etc.) in the nursery. Something simple to get them into Advanced thinkers elementary. Then from what I understand, they get tested again in their second year of Elementary. Some kids get moved around and then from then on, they spend the rest of their lives in whatever school they ended up in.  
  
It’s a really fucked up system because some kids get exceptions if they start out cute such as tigers, lions and bears. Oh my, the unfairness is enraging. But those kids get sorted by how aggressive they are when they’re cubs. If they’re just as rugged as a kid like me looks, that's how they end up at The Marsh.  
  
Anyway, back to my story!  
  
It was a nice hall or so I thought. There was a little lounge area before you actually made it to the rooms, but the lights were an irritating blue. I don’t know why because the lights in the halls were white. I’m not saying the bulbs were blue, but you just notice when you enter a room when the light comes off yellowish or bluish when your entire building is filled with pure white lights. So because of that I didn’t want to hang out in the lounge area. Not that anyone cared. I was the only one living in that hall. It was also strange because the bulbs wouldn’t turn on until you stepped in range of a sensor. Then the light bulb in front of you would turn on and the last one would turn off. I wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t matter. I stayed in my room til classes finally started.  
  
After getting dressed that first day I headed off to the library, expecting a little nook in a crack somewhere. After walking through unexplored halls and following a few signs, I was surprised to see how large that library was! I’m not fucking around when I say I went to a shit school! Books have no place in a world where education is shat on and a teacher is basically a babysitter. I was already kinda feeling out of place by how calm everyone was acting and indoor voices was a thing I only heard teachers beg for. I walked up to a bookshelf and was delightfully overwhelmed by how many fictional series were available for me to get lost in.  
  
I wasn’t only excited to get to spend my mornings in the library, but it also made sense for me to hang out in there. My room was really far from my classes. But the library was basically in the middle of the whole school. It was to the left of the cafeteria if you were looking at the library, which some kids would argue that the cafeteria was the actual center of the school since the offices were in front of it. But to me the library was the true center because the main hallway that led to classes was in front of it.  
  
Classes and offices were in the north wing. Facing the library, if you went to the left you’d be making your way towards the East wing. Which is where Club and Diamond halls were. My hall was kind of the midpoint between the East wing and the library. I was in the South wing, which again, I was the only one who lived there. Even though my ‘wing’ only had one long hallway, whereas the others had a whole labyrinth system going on, they still felt the need to give my hall a name. I wasn’t just South Wing, I was living in Star Hall. From what I knew, wings had like two halls. Then the halls were divided by year and then divided again by ‘rooms’. It’s really complicated, I don’t want to explain it, good luck following that shit later in the story. Just know that in this semester my Hall is just one long hallway with lots of dorms and I was the only one living there.  
  
Obviously we had a West wing. In the West wing there were two other halls. Heart and Spade. The midpoint between the cafeteria and East wing was kind of another south and north wing?? But nobody called it that. The ‘south wing’ portion was all the extra curriculars like art, music, that sort of thing. They creatively called it ‘Art Hall.’ The ‘North wing’ had sports shit. Swimming, basketball, gym, that shit. A lot of the populars were known to be in the West Wing and hung out in the ‘Sports Hall’. Is what they called it. Or they hung out in the cafeteria.  
  
I wasn’t interested in going over there, I already had classes for those halls so I went to the library. I looked around, and grabbed a book slowly. Luckily I was the only one there. So after claiming a spot, I sat down and tried to enjoy my book. After reading a few pages I froze when someone walked in and I can’t say how amazing it was for them to not even give two shits that this was how I wanted to spend my morning. Then a whole group of students came in. They were either sitting around and having a nice quiet conversation or they were also interested in grabbing a book to read. With a sigh of relief I went back to my book and started to let myself dissolve into that world.  
  
Then I saw some girl out of the corner of my eye walking in my direction. She was incredibly short, probably no taller than my knee and had long pink bouncy hair. She also had old aged brass looking skin, a pointed nose and bright yellow eyes. She had her arms close to her round, thick body, most likely trying to make sure her wings didn’t bump into anyone or anything. Her wavering skirt sometimes showed the skin of her thighs. Though when you looked down at her knees, feathers covered her calves all the way down to her tiny bird feet. She turned to look at something and that’s when I saw her little tail feathering from under her skirt as well.  
  
There was no reason for her to sit next to me. Why would anyone want to sit next to me? She could’ve sat anywhere! She could’ve talked to anybody else! She had so many options, but she walked right up to my table as if she owned it and expected me to be okay with that! Not only that! She wasn’t even reading!! She just pulled out some paper and started doodling a bunch of fucking little scribbles!! I kinda figured that these assholes weren’t used to conflict or confrontation and she expected me to just sit there and let her be a pesky little brat! But fuck that, I didn’t care if I was at a new school or not!! I got up, moved behind her and then flung her chair to the ground. I fought back the urge to laugh at her tiny chirp as she fell. Or really, I let out a chuckle cuz that was pretty funny. She fluttered back up and looked at me confused and surprised. I glared at her.  
  
“This is my spot. Don’t sit here ever again.”  
  
She seemed defenseless enough. I tried to go back to my seat but she decided to shove me to the ground. I bit my tongue so hard I drew a little blood and turned to try to scare her off again, but she was already flying towards me, face blood red from the excitement. Luckily she was stopped by a couple of teachers before I could show her what a real fight looked like. She was sent to the principal's office, while I made my way to the counselor's office. Why you ask? Because my old school said if something like this happened then this is what they needed to do.  
  
I opened the door to my new councilors office. It was small and stuffy, she only had one tiny chair for me to sit on that was barely two or three feet away from her desk. Which took up most of the room. Behind her was a bookshelf stuffed with books that looked old and dusty. The door was literally right next to me and the wall was tempted to come slightly closer to my chair.  
  
"Fang." She started shaking her head. "What’s going on? You just got here and we’re already having problems?" She turned her head and mumbled: 'Then again, I really shouldn't be surprised.'  
  
"I didn’t do anything wrong!....... yet.”  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"I said I didn't do anything!”  
  
“I know, I know.” She waved her hand at me. “I just want to make sure that you weren’t planning on doing anything that you were going to regret later. After all, you worked so hard to get here.”  
  
“MHM”  
  
“Did you take deep breaths?”  
  
“Yes! Fuck! I bit my tongue and everything! See?”  
  
“I didn’t mean liter-” She took a breath. “I know you’re trying Fang. I know you don’t want to go back to the Marsh District and transfer to Faulty High school. Principal Morgan has made it very clear that he is going to do everything he can to make sure you find your place here at The Plains District. Nobody wants to see you leave, especially not on your first day. But I think it’s probably safe to assume….. That here at Animal Demon High, we do NOT fling other students to the ground!”  
  
“I just wanted her to leave!”  
  
“Then maybe you should’ve used your words? Hm?”  
  
“Whatever.”  
  
“Do we need to review basic etiquette again?” She turned to pull a book. “We can start with greetings…… Fang?” She saw the opened door. “FANG!” She ran out of the office but I was already halfway down the hallway.  
  
I didn't look back. There wasn't anything she could say or do that would change what I thought. I knew I didn't do anything wrong, and I was done wasting my time there. Besides, the bell rang, and I needed to get to class.  
  
The next day, I assumed I wouldn’t see that little girl again after getting in trouble. But of course! The only logical thing that could possibly fucking happen was that she ended up sitting next to me again. I let out a sigh. I looked at her, but she didn't seem to notice. She just kept doodling. I put my hand on her crayon. She immediately glared at me but did nothing. I took it from her and placed it in front of her while staring directly into her eyes. She frowned at me, which was both ugly and ... I don't want to say cute, but she was definitely non-threatening.  
  
"Damn you!" She hissed. "Why do you keep bothering me?"  
  
"I should be asking you that.”  
  
"It’s not MY fault you’re sitting in MY spot!”  
  
"Pff! Sorry, didn’t know there was a FUCKING SEATING CHART!"  
  
"I’ve been sitting here for three years!! You have no right to just sit wherever the FUCK you want freshman!”  
  
"MAKE me move then!"  
  
"GLADLY!!" Her feathers flared up and as she rose from her seat. I stood up, obviously much taller than she was. I showed her my teeth again and held up my fists. She didn’t back off, she was ready to fight me over a spot and honestly, so was I! I was about to lunge at her until-  
  
"Sit! Down!" A paw grabbed my shoulder and shoved me back down to my chair. "SOME students are trying to read!"  
  
Now, I didn’t know the hierarchy of this school. I didn’t even know there was one. Back at the marsh, it was whoever was the biggest or toughest of the school. Things were run a little differently here. I haven’t exactly figured it out but I’m sure part of it had to do with looks. This girl, who was one of the most popular girls in school, had golden curly hair. Bright blue eyes, lively skin, almost a peachy sort of tone and a good height I’d say. Not too short but not too tall either. She had a tiny little round nose and cat ears on the top of her head and a well groomed tail that flicked back and forth as her claws threatened to pierce my skin. She had no shoes on as the pads on her feet, or paws, seemed to do her just fine.  
  
I don’t want to give much more information on her other than that, so for convenience sake, her name was Mittens. This is her introduction to my story, she’s not getting anything bigger out of me. Just know that she was extremely cute, beautiful and pretty much had guys waiting in line just to get the chance to say ‘hello’ to her. She also had girls standing all around her admiring and wishing to be friends with her.  
  
"Don’t you dare touch me." I looked at her and gave her a death glare. She just rolled her eyes at me, unamused and let me go. She put a finger or…. Paw? Her…. Finger paw on her lips to tell us to shut up basically and then walked away. "As for you." I turned back to see that little girl had sat back down and appeared to be hiding behind her doodle.  
  
She completely ignored me and just stared at Mittens. I decided to look back at her to see what she was so interested in. She had gone over to hug her boyfriend. They sat together on a large cozy chair and she rested her head against his chest as he read what looked to be a comic book or something like that.  
  
He had fire red hair, sort of rich cinnamon skin, emerald green eyes and he had paw hands and feet like she did. He had a large bushy fox tail and a couple of fox ears perked up on his head. He was taller than me and definitely taller than Mittens. He was a guy with charm, someone who could make friends easily. Also, for convenience sake, his name was River.  
  
"Hello? What are you doing?"  
  
"Shush!"  
  
"Oook you creepy little weirdo."  
  
She ignored me and continued to watch them. When they began to leave, she pretended she was drawing the whole time as they walked past us. I don’t think either of them noticed her. After they left she let out a sigh of relief and put her crayons down.  
  
"Great, she's gone."  
  
"Great! You can be too."  
  
"What is your problem?!" She asked annoyed.  
  
"You."  
  
"I didn't even do anything to you! And you started it yesterday!"  
  
"But you decided to sit exactly where I told you not to."  
  
"You're not the boss of me! I do what I want!"  
  
The librarian shushed us. We both turned to glare at her.  
  
"Keep it down or both of you will be banned from the library." She growled. Not exactly happy about our reaction.  
  
I have to say though, that was one of the best threats given to me in a long time. Our faces quickly changed and we went back to what we were doing. When the bell rang I followed her out, once we were outside I leaned down to her.  
  
"Stop sitting next to me!" After I said that, I walked away.  
  
The next day, she sat next to me again!!! I grinded my teeth together and pulled my hair slightly.  
  
“Move. Or I will move you.”  
  
“I dare you!”  
  
She glared at me and I glared back at her. We stared at each other for nearly a minute before I looked at the librarian, who was keeping a close eye on us. I let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back in my chair.  
  
“Fuck you.”  
  
“That’s what I thought!” She grabbed her crayon and started to doodle again. “Nice to meet you, friend.”  
  
“We’re NOT friends!”  
  
“Okay! If that’s what you think~” She smirked at me.  
  
I swear I came really close to slapping that smile right off of her….. But I just bit my tongue. It felt like it was about to snap right off and I’d accidentally swallow it whole!  
  
The next day my leg was bouncing, rocking the table as she was doodling. She looked slightly irritated but she also had no intention of moving. I tried to read my book, but I just couldn’t focus, knowing that she was there to stay. I slammed it down after a few minutes.  
  
“Why can’t you just fucking move?!”  
  
"I have my reasons!” She blushed a little and looked past me. I rolled my eyes. “Er…. W-well….. I mean, I think I have a good reason to sit here! I don’t see why you’re so determined to stay here too!”  
  
"Look around. All the other tables are claimed! I WANTED a table all to myself!”  
  
“That's too bad. You could've picked any other table, but you picked mine.”  
  
“Damn!”  
  
I started tapping my knuckles on the table. It wasn’t easy to keep biting my tongue, but I did whatever advice I was given before I officially transferred to the school. I should’ve known that the students were going to be more annoying than threatening. After a minute or two of staring at my book and her basically just scribbling on paper, she decided to bug me again.  
  
“So what’s your name?” I tossed my collar at her. “Nice.” She picked it up and read the tag. “Fang! That’s a cool name.” I didn’t say anything. “Star Hall? Of course, you just transferred here… Room A-53. Oh!!! Room A?! That’s impressive!” I still didn’t respond. She slid my collar back to me. She tapped the red collar around her neck. “My name is Siren! Club Hall. Room F-87.”  
  
“K.”  
  
.  
.  
.  
  
“So why’d you transfer to Demon High?”  
  
“For quiet.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
.  
.  
.  
  
“Why?”  
  
"OH MY GOD! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!” I threw the table away from us. “I DON’T LIKE YOU! I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU! I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO FUCKING DO WITH YOU!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!! FUCK!!!”  
  
After a couple of breaths I looked around and everyone was staring at me. I realized what I just did. The warning bell rang. I grabbed my bag and practically ran out of the library. Some teachers were walking towards me. I shrugged them off and went to class and pretended like nothing had happened.  
  
Literally everyone was talking about me and what happened in the library. I was kind of pissed because it really wasn't anyone's business, and something like that usually wasn't a big deal back at my old school. But apparently I had to talk to the councilor again and got threatened with detention and a bunch of other stuff. Which was stupid, but whatever.  
  
When lunch came around, I didn’t hesitate to go back to the library. Kids looked at me and were whispering behind my back, but it was better than what kids would do back at FMS. I just went in and grabbed the book I was reading. The table I had thrown was put back, so I sat in my spot and tried to get lost in my book. I had barely started chapter two and I was ready to finally move on and see what happened next. Unfortunately, some kid decided to interrupt me.  
  
“Hey.” Someone said.  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"H-Hey…. that girl… you know… Siren? I know you two had a fight and all but…. Uhm…. the girls are all saying that she’s been in the bathroom crying for the last two periods."  
  
"What the fuck do I care?"  
  
“I….Just thought you should know.” He said pathetically before walking away.  
  
I rolled my eyes and kept reading til the bell rang. I swear that guy ran off and told everyone how I responded, because all of a sudden everyone had a look in their eyes. Something that said they thought I was a horrible guy and they couldn’t understand how someone like me was able to get into their school. Not that my charming personality had anything to do with it, but they were acting like it should’ve been.  
  
I didn’t care about the stares honestly. I didn’t care about what they said or thought about me. I just had to glance back at them and they’d look away in fear. That alone was enough to comfort me and give me the strength to get through that day. When it was time to go home, I retreated into my blue hallway as quickly as I could, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.  
  
The next morning I sat in my spot like nothing happened. Every now and then I’d look up and notice that the library was a little emptier than usual, did that bother me? No. It was quieter than normal and that was fine by me. Then….  
  
“OH MY GOD! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” I slammed my book down and she only glared at me as she stood by her chair. “Don’t you dare sit down!” She pulled the chair out. “DON’T!!!” She gave me an ugly look as she moved in front of her chair. “I’M SERIOUS! DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!!” She fluffed the feathers on her tail and slowly sat down. She crossed her legs and just smirked at me.  
  
“Now what?” She mocked. The rage boiling inside me caused me to rise out of my chair. My fingertips curled as if I were strangling the air and I growled at her. “Do something then! I dare you!!”  
  
“You obnoxious little!!”  
  
“You don’t have the guts!”  
  
“You have no idea what I’d do to you if we were back at my old school!”  
  
“What’s stopping you? Huh!? Huh!? Start something then! Make! My! Day!!”  
  
I held my breath and reached towards her but when she didn’t even flinch I just released my breath and slouched back in my chair.  
  
“HA! I KNEW IT!” She pointed and laughed at me. “All bark and no bite!! I bet that’s why you moved here! You were probably just a wimpy wimp back at your old school and you thought we’d all just be scared of you and-”  
  
I covered my face embarrassed that students came in and watched her talk shit about me and I just sat there and took it like a little bitch. I’m not saying that what she said was true. But I didn’t want to get into trouble AGAIN! This little asshole already had me two strikes in and if I got a third strike I’d be dealing with transfer paperwork and I worked too damn hard to already get shipped out. Especially in my first week! I’d never been so humiliated in all my life! A fucking shark getting scolded by a damn bird.  
  
“So!” She said, finally finishing her roast. “From now on! We share this table and you’re not gonna be mean or have a bad attitude about it!”  
  
"Fuck you! I didn’t do anything wrong! You already knew I wanted to be left alone but you won’t shut the fuck up! What happened yesterday was basically YOUR fault for not leaving me alone!”  
  
"Yeah, yeah! I figured you’d say that. But you know what? After thinking about it all night and being really mad and hurt by you, I realized that you’re just….. Lonely.” She smiled.  
  
“What?”  
  
“You’re new, you have no friends and it’s no wonder you’re being so mean and weird. So I decided that I’ll be your friend! No matter how much you say you don’t want me to be.”  
  
“.....What the fuck is going on?”  
  
“In fact! Now that I know that you’re not as bad as you tried to make yourself seem, I’m now declaring me your brand new BEST FRIEND!”  
  
“.....You know what? You win!” I got up and walked away. “This is your spot now. Bye.”  
  
“Where are we going? Best Friend~”  
  
“No. Stop following me!”  
  
“Everyone! This is my new best friend!” She shouted when we got outside.  
  
“Oh my god!” I ran away from her.  
  
“Fang! Come back! We’re the bestest friends ever!!!”  
  
“GO AWAY!!!”  
  
“NEVER!!!”  
  
Siren is the only girl I’ve ever known who could start a friendship like that. Nobody is as weird, random and embarrassing as she is. I guess that’s where it all began.


	2. Chapter 2

In the blink of an eye, the second week of school started. I dragged myself out of bed and from the hall looked through the glass walls into the library. There were only two or three people inside. I slowly opened the door and looked around. I looked back and made my way to my spot. I grabbed a book from a nearby bookshelf, still on edge and then sat down. I slowly released a breath and started reading. More kids came in but by the time class started…. Siren never came.  
  
“Thank you!” I said to myself as I put the book down and rushed off to class.  
  
I took each day as they came. Reading, doing crossword puzzles and minding my own business. I didn’t see her for a little while and nobody else made an effort to talk to me. Which is what I wanted and expected when I got there. So for a little while, I was just fine being alone.  
  
But then one day, out of nowhere…. She hustled over to my table and jumped on the chair. She grabbed her bag and dumped out papers, pencils and erasers. She shoved papers to one side and pencils to the other. After stacking and shuffling through her papers, she slapped her hand over a pencil and she gripped the hair on her forehead. Then her eyes darted from one paper to the next and her pencil swung and bounced so fast, you’d think her paper would catch fire from the friction!  
  
“....Um….Hello?” I said.  
  
“Hi.” She said simply.  
  
“....What the hell are you doing here?”  
  
“I’ve got a test at the end of the week and I’m trying to study.” She said.  
  
“Ok, well, why not study wherever it was you’ve been?”  
  
“I haven’t been studying.” She said laughing at me. “I’ve been sleeping.”  
  
“Sleeping!?”  
  
“Yeah! Duh! Sometimes I wake up in time to see Riv- I mean…. To uh…. Do last minute homework!” She let out a nervous giggle. “But mostly, I like sleeping as long as I can.”  
  
“Ok? Well, I meant why are you sitting here with me? You’ve been gone for a few days! What makes you think I want you to sit here?”  
  
“Pff! You didn’t want me sitting here anyway! But I know exactly what you want!” She smiled at me. “You just wanted me to be quiet right? So I won’t bother you. I’ll just do what I do.”  
  
“That’s not the problem!”  
  
“Well, it’s not like you’re using this chair anyway!” She said slightly annoyed. “Can you just let me finish my homework? Do we really need to get in a fight over nothing?”  
  
“I…..Ugh!” I rolled my eyes and started reading again.  
  
She was nice and quiet for a little bit, but then she started staring at me. I glared at her and she wouldn’t stop.  
  
“What?!”  
  
“....I’ve been curious. Who gave you your name?” She asked.  
  
“Does that matter?” I asked. She stared at me, unblinking and smiling. “Some teacher after I bit her.” I said.  
  
“Pff! WOW!” She giggled. “Of course that’s how you got your name.” She sighed. “I used to put the teachers to sleep when I was little. So that we could play a little longer.” She smiled.  
  
“Oh yeah?”  
  
“Mhm!” She nodded. “That’s my power, I can sing.” She tapped her collar. “That’s why mine looks like this.” I took a better look at her collar. The first time I saw it, I didn’t notice it was metal and sealed. “I love to sing a lot, so mine is cursed to seal my powers.”  
  
“Oh.” I nodded.  
  
“What are your powers?”  
  
“I don’t know.” I shrugged.  
  
“You don’t know?!” She laughed. “What do you mean? Everyone knows what they can do. How else can they make sure we don’t abuse our powers?”  
  
“My old school just removed all traces of magic from our school. We’re already out of control, so it’d be pretty tough if we could use our powers. But what’s funny is that some of the kids at my school had powers so unique that it was impossible to predict what they were capable of doing. Most of us probably just have super strength or something like that though.”  
  
“Hmm.” She kicked her legs back and forth. “So you really came from the marsh?”  
  
“Yeah.” I nodded.  
  
“Wow!” She gasped. “What’s it like?”  
  
“Eh. It’s bad. I don’t know what your definition of bad is, but you know. Fights, bad grades, barely any rules. It really sucks. I couldn’t get out fast enough.”  
  
“I heard that you could do whatever you wanted at the marsh. So that must’ve been fun.”  
  
“Only if you like chaos and noise. I like this school much better. There’s more structure and it’s much quieter.”  
  
She giggled and then went back to doing her homework. After seeing we only had a few minutes she packed up her things and left. I went back to reading.  
She was back the next day which was annoying, but she did the exact same thing as the day before. After making a huge mess, she kept her head down and did her work. Then she stared at me again after a few minutes.  
  
“...What?”  
  
“Nothing.” She said as she stared at me again. “You just seem…. I don’t know.” She giggled. “You’re just not what I thought you would be. Quiet, polite.”  
  
“Who are you talking about!? I’m not polite! I just don’t want to talk to you!”  
  
“Ha! You don’t even realize how considerate you’re being. Instead of chasing me away, you’re being so careful not to disturb me. I see how you turn the pages in your book.”  
  
“I turn my pages slowly! So what?!”  
  
“You’re blushing.” She teased.  
  
“I’m just- I’m not-” I sighed. “Shut up and do your work!”  
  
“Hmm.” She hummed. She looked at the table and then back at me. “Are you always alone?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because I like being alone.” I said in an annoyed tone.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because!” I slammed my book shut and glared at her. She just smiled at me and I sighed. “I don’t like talking to people, ok? I’d rather just sit here and read my books.”  
  
“Hmmm.” She hummed again. “Did you get to be alone a lot at your old school?”  
  
“Sometimes.”  
  
“So you had friends?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Have you ever had a friend?”  
  
“No!”  
  
“Are you happy that I’m your friend?”  
  
I didn’t answer her. She didn’t ask again. After realizing she only had a few more minutes she went back to her study guide. The bell rang and we did the exact same thing. We went to class, went home and she stared at me the next morning.  
  
“Is there anything you like about people?” She asked.  
  
I put my book down in my lap and threw my head back, releasing a slow and annoyed sigh.  
  
“I like when they leave me alone!” I said.  
  
“What else?”  
  
“Nothing else! Leave me alone!”  
  
“Have you ever dated anyone?”  
  
“I...I don’t know!”  
  
“You don’t KNOW?!”  
  
“Ugh! I-I guess I’ve dated one girl.”  
  
She gasped.  
  
“Really!?” She said in a high squeaky voice. “That’s so cute! What was she like?”  
  
“Perfect.” I said.  
  
“....What happened?”  
  
I shrugged.  
  
“Sometimes things don’t work out.”  
  
“Hmm.” She had a disappointed tone. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”  
  
“I see.”  
  
“I’m too shy and nervous.” She smiled at me and seemed to gleam. “But I’m really good at making friends!”  
  
“Mhm.” I grumbled.  
  
“So do you like anything else? Besides reading all the time?”  
  
“Puzzles.”  
  
“Me too!” She said excitedly. “I love puzzles! We should do one sometime.”  
  
“I guess?”  
  
She smiled. She began to study again. Or so I thought. She slid a piece of paper to me.  
  
“I’ll be the X and you’ll be the O” She said.  
  
I looked down and she had begun a game of tic tac toe. She chose a middle box.  
  
“Hm.” I shrugged and placed my O down. “Your move.” I said as I read the next line.  
  
By the time the bell rang, I won five games and she wore a large frown as she threw our games away in a nearby trash can. I just laughed.  
  
“I never knew it was possible to be so bad at tic tac toe.”  
  
“Shut up!” She pouted as she stomped away from me.  
  
I just laughed and went to class. And that was the rest of that week for us.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hi! Fang!" Siren chirped to me one day.  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Look, look!" She shoved a test paper in my face with a 95 written on it. "I made an A! I've never made an A in math before. I wanted to show you first."  
  
"...Ok? What’d you want me to say?"  
  
"Nothing. I just wanted to show you."  
  
"Oh well…. G-good job?” I gave her a couple of pats on her head.  
  
"Aw, how nice!” She bounced a little and put her stuff on the table. “I need to get a book for class. I’ll be right back.” She ran off.  
  
“Ok, whatever.” I rolled my eyes and stretched out. I looked over at the door and saw River walking in.  
  
“Hm.” I said to myself. “Isn’t that the guy Siren stares at?”  
  
He didn’t come to the library often, but she always had a hope that he would come in and chill out there. Most likely just to pass the time, because he’d only sit there for a few minutes before he put down whatever comic he had and then go towards the cafeteria. If he went to the cafeteria, I couldn’t say. I only knew he would exit the library and from the glass walls, he’d make a left. Either way, he wasn’t in the library often enough for him to have a spot nor for me to call him an avid book reader.  
  
I have to say, I didn’t know a lot about him either. I wasn’t trying to get to know him, but I would notice that Siren wasn’t the only girl who’d look at him. Whenever he came into the library, a few girls sitting nearby would gasp and blush at the sight of him. Even when he left, a few girls couldn’t help but stop their conversation just so they could admire him. It was strange to me because he didn’t seem special to me at all. Just a fox demon going about his normal day.  
  
The more I thought about it, the more curious I became. How does a guy like him become so popular? Not that I had anything to judge him by other than his looks, but it was still something I wanted to know. Like I said before, the biggest baddest bitch or bastard was how we determined the ‘popularity’ of a kid. So what sort of traits did this guy have? The curiosity took over me and I couldn’t stop myself from blurting something out.  
  
"Hey." I felt my blood run cold and I tried to look away. It was too late! I caught his attention.  
  
"...Hey?" He said, his head tilting to one side.  
  
"Sorry, I don’t mean to bother you.” I said slightly embarrassed. “Um.... I was just wondering if you wanted to talk I guess?"  
  
I thought he’d say no! I figured he’d scoff at me and be disgusted that I even asked. He was a popular kid and I was a new, random weird kid who was just recently running away from a little girl that I could’ve easily smashed to pieces! There was no way he’d want to talk to or be seen with a loser like me!  
  
“Really?!” He said a little too excitedly.  
  
“Uh…. Y-yeah?”  
  
“Oh wow! That’s…. Yeah! Sure!” He sat down immediately. “Wow! I just…. I heard so much about you. I didn’t think that I’d actually get to talk to you.” He said chuckling.  
  
“Nothing too bad? I guess?”  
  
“Only the worst things!” He chuckled some more. “I’m just messing with you! I hear both bad and embarrassing things about you.”  
  
“Okay?” I said. Not sure if I should’ve been insulted or not.  
  
Siren was coming back, a book in hand, but the second she saw River sitting with me she quickly turned around and tried to run away.  
  
Oh hell no! I thought to myself. "Siren! Where are you going?" She froze and slowly turned around. "Aren't you going to come sit with us?"  
  
“Er...n-n….. I….um….” She looked at River.  
  
River refused to turn around, instead he was staring at the ground with his eyes opened wide and a forced smile on his face. His shoulders were tense and he made a weird sound that came out of his nose. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard, but bearable to listen to at least. He blew out some hair and somewhat turned his head, but not directly looking at Siren.  
  
“Oh. Hey.” He said towards her before looking at me. “I heard you’d been hanging around her, is she your friend?”  
  
“Yeah, I guess? That’s Siren.”  
  
“I know her.” He said a little too quickly. “We’ve been going to the same school for a while now…. Haven’t we Siren?” She nodded. “I guess since you two are friends?! You…. can…. Sit with us?” He shrugged.  
  
“Oh, so you two know each other?” I asked.  
  
“Well, we know of each other.” River said with a chuckle as Siren sat next to me and across from River. “I can’t remember having an actual conversation with her.” His eyes were pretty wide when he said that, but he shook it off. “But I wanna know more about you! What did you get stuck with?”  
  
“....Huh?”  
  
“You’re name! Duh! What’d you get stuck with?”  
  
“Oh! Um, Fang.”  
  
“Nice! Nice! They call me River. It stuck after a few pranks. I bet you can guess what kind!” He laughed remembering something dumb, I think. “Anyway! I heard you made your way here after getting rehabilitated at D.S.F.T.D! Is that true?!” His tail wagged.  
  
“I actually transferred from The Marsh.”  
  
“Oh! A Faulty kid huh?”  
  
“Please, don’t call me that.” I glared at him.  
  
“Faulty middle school?” He asked, I nodded. “Cool, cool! What’s it like there? Obviously we grew up here in the plains district so we don’t really know what it’s like beyond our district.”  
  
“It’s just a shit school. Nothing too exciting.”  
  
“Aw, come on! There’s gotta be more to the story than that! Tell me…. Like the worst day you ever had?”  
  
“Hmm….” I thought for a moment. “The worst day I ever had?? Well…. It started out like any other day.”  
  
None of that is important. Just know it was a terrible day and I didn’t even get to finish it, because the next thing I knew, the bell rang.  
  
“Aw damn! You’ll have to finish that story tomorrow!” He said grabbing his stuff.  
  
“Tomorrow?” I asked.  
  
“Uh, yeah! I definitely wanna hear the rest of that story!” He was about to run off but he stood next to Siren. Again, not looking directly at her. “Hey… Let’s try not to make a big deal out of this. Alright?” She nodded and then he turned to me. “See ya, tomorrow Fang!”  
  
“....Why’d he say that?” I asked her.  
  
She just laughed.  
  
“I don’t know! He’s just…. So mysterious~” She sighed.  
  
“He’s kinda weird.” I said picking my bag up. “Come on, let’s go to class.”  
  
“Okay!” She grabbed her bag and ran after me. I went down the first year hallway and she went to the third year. I barely took a few steps down the hall when I heard her yell “DAMN IT!!” and turned to see her running back to the library.  
  
I thought a second and realized she forgot the book she was grabbing earlier. I laughed and went to class.  
  
The next day, I was relaxing in my spot, Siren had come later sulking and doing some homework. I shook my head and smiled. She didn’t notice so we were sitting in silence until River showed up a few minutes later.  
  
“Hey! Morning!” He said sitting down.  
  
“Um….. Good morning?” I said scooting away from him.  
  
“You said you’d finish your story today.” He reminded me.  
  
“Right. There’s not much left so….”  
  
“.... You left off when a big tough guy was coming at you?”  
  
“Right!” I said, continuing my story. After a few more minutes I finally finished my story. “And THAT! Was the worst day of my life so far!”  
  
“Damn, sounds rough.” He chuckled.  
  
“Yup!.... You can go now, I don’t have anything else to say to you.”  
  
“So what was a good day like?” He asked.  
  
“Ugh!” I rolled my eyes. “A good day would be if you kept your head down low and didn’t get noticed by anyone bigger and stronger than you! Alright? Now will you go?”  
  
“What were the girls like?” He grinned.  
  
“Not your type, I’m sure! Leave!”  
  
“Like how? Come on! I know you can tell a good story now. You can’t leave me hanging!”  
  
“Alright.” I got up and grabbed the back of his chair and slowly started dragging him towards the chair I had first seen him sit at.  
  
“Wee!” He said for a second, but then realized what I was doing. “Ohh! Lighting round! I like it! Ok, who was the biggest, baddest kid in your school?”  
  
“A girl named Hellen, till she got transferred to D.S.F.T.D, then it was some other bitch I don’t remember.”  
  
“Whoo! A girl! Was she hot?”  
  
“If you like bitches who are independent and strong.”  
  
“Nice! She sounds sexy.”  
  
“You wouldn’t say that if you met her. Stop talking!! And quit dragging your feet!” I pulled harder, but he put more pressure on the ground so it was harder to pull him. So I put him down and started pushing him, but that wasn’t any easier. “Hello!?” I said to the librarian. “A little help over here? Isn’t he being disruptive or something?!”  
  
She just laughed and shook her head.  
  
“She won’t help you.” He held up his red collar. “Heart Hall! Room: D-92. Teachers and faculty know me, and know that this is just typical River.” He waved and smiled at her. She did the same. “I’m sure she thinks this is as funny as I do.” He laughed.  
  
“Ugh!!” I went around and tried pulling him again.  
  
“Wee!”  
  
“Stop it!!” I growled.  
  
“You know? This is so much fun, I think when you’re done, I’ll just move the chair right back to your table and we can do it again!”  
  
I let him go after he said that. I didn’t feel like wasting my time if he was just going to go back to my table. I sat down and tried to read my book again. Sure enough, he dragged the chair back to where it was and sat next to me again.  
  
“So!” He said.  
  
“No.” I glared at him.  
  
“Come on!! Your stories are interesting!”  
  
“No!! Go away! I already have to share with this pest!”  
  
“Hey!” Siren chirped.  
  
He turned to her. I don’t know how to describe that moment other than it felt as though time paused. That goofy look he wore had fallen and was replaced with either a puzzled or serious face. I can’t really tell with that guy. Siren’s quirky personality dissolved to a regretful glace and her face flushed with embarrassment. For a brief moment, an uncomfortable silence settled before it was broken by Siren looking back down. Rivers' attention went back to me. His lip going back to his stupid smile.  
  
“Just one more question!” He pestered. The bell rang shortly after and I was able to escape.  
  
I didn’t think about it until I saw him again the next day. Still trying to get me to talk about myself. Siren was again sitting silently, glancing at him every now and then, but only when she thought he wasn’t looking at her. I started thinking yesterday would’ve been her chance to say something to him, but instead she let it pass. Not that I’d encourage her trying to steal someone’s boyfriend away, but I didn’t like how awkwardly quiet she was the whole time he was around.  
  
“Come on Fang! I just want to know a little more about you!” He said.  
  
“I don’t understand why you’re being so annoying. You two are exactly the same.” I said, trying to pull Siren into the conversation.  
  
“Who?”  
  
“You and Siren.” His smile fell for a second, and Siren shifted away from us, as if she wanted to leave, but stayed where she was. He laughed it off.  
  
“Are we? I wouldn’t know.”  
  
“I can see plenty of similarities between you two. Like-”  
  
“AH!” He waved his arm in my face to cut me off. “I don’t wanna talk about that.” He tried laughing again.  
  
“Well, you said you two hardly know each other, but you two grew up together. Seems like a good time to talk instead of talking about me.”  
  
“Uh, huh….” He looked at Siren. She had her face buried in her arms which were resting on the table. Her feathers were fluffed up for some reason. “Siren.” He said, finally acknowledging her. “Can I have a second alone with Fang?”  
  
“Um… Okay.” She ran off without even looking at us.  
  
He smiled at me and didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure what to say or what he wanted. I waited a second before I tried to ask, but then he spoke.  
  
“Listen. You’re a smart kid.” He said pointing to my collar wrapped around my belt loop. “Room A? Everyone knows that’s an honor roll Student. As an honor roll student, I think you’ve already figured out two things. One: I haven’t tried talking to her.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. Second thing, She hasn’t tried talking to me!”  
  
“Right.”  
  
“Right! So….. is there any reason why you think we should talk to each other?” He shrugged at me. I didn’t have an answer. “Listen. I get it. She’s your friend, you don’t want her feeling left out or whatever, but I’m trying to get to know you without making you uncomfortable. I think you’re an interesting guy, I really do want to hang out with you. But every time I see you, you’re with…. Her. I wasn’t going to say anything, but since you’re being really weird about us talking, then I think I need to let you know where I stand with that girl. I know of her, but I don’t want to know her.”  
  
“That seems kinda rough.”  
  
“Hm.” He chuckled. “You know, it’s kinda cute to talk to a freshman who doesn’t know anything.” He sat back and pointed to a few kids and told me some of their stories. He turned to the glass wall facing the halls, and did the same to kids passing by. “I know everyone here. Every senior, every freshman. We all know each other. Do you know what that means?”  
  
“Not really.”  
  
“It means that everyone has a hard time covering up their mistakes and embarrassing moments. It’s not easy working your way up when everyone remembers every little thing you did as a kid.” He held up his collar. “EVERYONE wants to be in Heart Hall. I was lucky that a lot of kids liked me and that I made a lot of good friends that helped me reach where I am now.”  
  
“Okay, and?” I shrugged.  
  
“Heh, I guess that stuff doesn’t matter to you. That’s really cool, honestly. You don’t care about who’s in what hall and what a Room means. I like that you don’t care that I’m in Heart Hall and Siren is in Room: F. I bet you don’t even know what that means, but whatever. Not that I care about that stuff either. You’re in Star Hall and that’s probably a little worse than being in Room: F. But I still want to get to know you anyway.”  
  
“Thanks for gracing me with your presence then.” I rolled my eyes. “Why am I the exception and not Siren?”  
  
“Like I said. I know of her. Every mistake.” His eyes narrowed. “Every embarrassing moment…. And every single regret she has. If you really knew her, and I do mean if you REALLY knew her…. I don’t know how you’d feel about her. How often do you see her talking to anyone?” I thought about it and looked at her. She was standing outside of the library and just had her head down. Nobody really looked at her. “There’s a reason why she was all by herself when you first met her. The bottom line is I don’t like her. She’s got history here and bad blood with my girlfriend Mittens. Bad blood with most of us really.”  
  
“That little brat?! What’d she do?!”  
  
“Sorry, new kid. We don’t talk about it.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“If you knew, then you’d understand. Don’t bother asking Siren, she won’t tell you either. The point is that stuff happened and I’m not even supposed to be near her. Mittens is honestly pretty pissed that she’s heard that I’ve been sitting with her. I’m trying to be nice by not saying anything about your friendship with her. Cuz I wanna hang out with you. I think you’re wrong for wanting to be friends with her, but that’s none of my business and if I could say something about her, I would’ve already. So do me a favor and ..... Don’t….. Do that. That thing you were doing just now.”  
  
“Ok?”  
  
“Awesome. Well! This got awkward so I’m gonna go now. I’ll see you later.”  
  
He left and that’s when Siren came back in. She sat next to me and seemed a little upset. She looked at me and then looked away when she realized I was staring at her.  
  
“What did he say?” She asked.  
  
“....That we don’t talk about it.”  
  
She nodded.  
  
“Good.” She whispered. The bell rang. She grabbed her things and looked at me, teary eyed. “I’ll….. See you…. Tomorrow?”  
  
“Yeah.” I nodded.  
  
She took a deep breath and smiled. She turned to leave and wiped her eyes as she walked with a slight skip in her step.  
  
On my way to class, I couldn’t help but hear some kids in the hallway.  
  
“Isn’t that so weird?” One of them said. “Can you believe that new kid is sitting with both Siren and River?!”  
  
“I know right?! You don’t think she’s….”  
  
“No, she wouldn’t. Not to River at least.”  
  
“That poor new kid, if only he knew."  
  
“Thank goodness for River! He’s so nice to want to save even a kid like that!”  
  
“I know right~ ”  
  
I sort of wish I heard the rest of that conversation, but they were second years and went into another hall. At the time though, I thought they were making fun of me. After rolling my eyes at them, I just went to class and forgot about what they said.


End file.
